Half Assed

I picked up a 99 SE 5spd with 180k and some rust for $1200.





The A/C no trabaja, but the compressor clutch was kicking on and the blower was working. Low and high side pressures were both below normal, so I dumped about 12oz of refrigerant in it. 2 weeks in and it's still cold, so time will tell how big of a leak there is.

I didn't test drive it long enough to notice a caliper was seizing up, so I fried the front pad pretty good and warped the rotor on the right front on the first day I put the plate on it. The flex line had a bubble in it and locked up the caliper. Not a big deal, but the nut on the hard line was rusted solid and I had to splice in a new end on the brake line. That sucked.

I also removed the dinky 26-series battery for a 4cyl car and put in a 48-series battery I had laying around for a V8 truck. 770 CCA baby!

Half Assed

First big thing I'll be doing is installing some audio equipment. I'm trying to do it on a budget around $400. The kid who drove this car before me tore all his stuff out (and left the interior all loose and missing pieces).

I ordered an open box Jensen VX7020 double din with nav, bluetooth, and a bunch of other standard stuff for $230 on Amazon along with a rear view camera. I probably won't use it much, but why not?

The fronts will be some PPI 8" woofers I had with some cheapo 5" mids from parts express and PPI bullet tweeters.

I got a pair cheapo 10" shallow subs also from PE freeaired in the rear deck. I think they will fit without too much cutting.

Without space for the rear speakers I think they will go in the rear doors. For that I have some Soundstream 6.5 components. Here is a pic of a 4th gen at the junkyard; plenty of space for some 6.5s in the doors I'm thinking. I'm not even sure if I'm going to even put anything there yet though. The front will be good enough on it's own.



Most everything is on order, so I started shoving the 8" mids in the front doors tonight.

I had to use 1 and 3/4" of MDF to clear the window coming down.


Some paint and 2 1/2" screws.


Speaker mounted. I don't have a picture with the door panel installed because we all know what that looks like, but it fits flush against the door frame.

Half Assed

Did the driver's side today.

Turned out there was one bose speaker left in the car.






I also fixed this rat nest. All kinds of wires crossed and channels mixed up.

niceguy

I always wanted a Max just like that one but waited too long and couldn't find one with low enough mileage at the time....great looking car still...

Half Assed

got my speakers in from parts express.

cheapo 5" mids that were like $10/ea, GRS cheapo shallow 10" subwoofers were $30/ea. PPI tweeters were $35 for the pair.


These will fit the rear deck perfectly.


Better pic of the outside of the car, nothing special yet. The sun makes the paint look all different colors. It is. This car is way more rusty than I realized when I bought it.


Probably not much going to happen out here though. Tint and a roof rack. Maybe repaint the wheels if i have the time. Someone spraypainted them.

Had a problem on the first tank of gas. I foolishly put in 87 regular and got 8 MPG. Yikes. Might explain why someone cut the catalytic converter out of it. I put about 60 miles on it and I put 8 gallons in it. I topped it off with 93 super and I've put 30 miles on it and the gauge barely looks like it even moved (fingerscrossed it didn't like the 87 for some reason). 93 from now on, although I might try some 90 non-ethanol.

I replaced the burnt out CEL bulb(not a good sign) and of course it turned on. Codes for an upstream O2 sensor, knock sensor, and MAP sensor. Map sensor had a hose unplugged, so I'm thinking that is fixed but I haven't read the codes again yet. I also ordered a knock sensor from egay. I got some new NGK spark plugs, a fuel filter, seafoam, t/b cleaner and maf cleaner waiting for this weekend when I have the time.

niceguy

Parts Express is awesome for deals like that...half of my car and home audio setups were built from PE stuff...

Half Assed

Yeah, PE has some interesting stuff. I ordered some surplus flatscreen TV speakers to make some cool tower speakers for my computer as well. Maybe I'll make a post on that later... I had to get rid of some of the home audio stuff I had last time I moved. I kept my trusty 1980's Kenwood amps though.

Put 40 miles on it and filled up to see how it is doing. It's getting 19 mpg now. Big improvement, but I hope it can get closer to 22-24mpg soon.

The open box Jensen VX7020 I bought from amazon for $230 arrived today and I got it installed. I'm liking it so far. I wish my rear view camera would arrive soon, it hasn't even shipped yet and it was on the same order as the stereo.

Dio

That double din is nice as hell. I was thinking about getting a similar one for my 97. The old *** single din pioneer that came with the car has got to go

Half Assed

I seafoamed it. I put the whole can through the brake booster hose (1/2 can at a time). It smoked like a train lol. New NGK #7090 plugs, PCV valve, fuel filter, and knock sensor. Only engine code left is a bank 1 sensor 2 oxygen sensor. The converter was cut out by the PO so the sensor ain't reading right.


Reverse camera installed. I wired it to the reverse lights, but for some reason the lights don't always turn on. Maybe the switch is worn out or something...


5" mids in the center console.



PPI tweeters in.


10" GRS shallow subs in.


Looks like ****, but the trunk has to be sealed off from the cabin for the infinite baffle setup to work the best. The cardboard is temporary until the seat goes back in.


Audio is 95% done. Sounds great for the money I spent. The subs work pretty good. They aren't anything crazy, but they add some bump to round everything out.


I have some 4 tone Cadillac horns to put on it next.

Half Assed

I built a roof rack.




Plastidipped the chrome grille black.




The exhaust has rust holes in it all the way down from the y-pipe to the muffler. I'm not sure if I want to waste my time patching it up or buying new stuff.

Half Assed

Some pics of the exhaust repair in progress. I didn't take a picture of the finished thing, but it's looks the same but with some clamps and without the wire ties.

I cut a rustfree original nissan resonator out of a '99 I30 at the junkyard and patched it in. The old aftermarket resonator was all rusted out. The baffles inside were all misaligned and blocked the exhaust from going out the muffler which was why it was so loud.

Nice and quiet now. I can still hear some exhaust leaks out of the holes in the pipe going over the rear axle and the y-pipe, but I probably won't patch those until they become a problem.

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max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

i's be worried about that rust under there if i were you.

Half Assed

This car will probably go to the junkyard when I'm done with it.

Half Assed

some pics from last weekend

Half Assed

Painted the wheels rustoleum metallic dark copper. I was hoping it would be a little lighter, but I still like the color. The old paint had big globs and runs in it and looked like crap.





I also installed some bigger rubber mud flaps on the front. I'm missing a right rear factory mud flap, but when I find one the back will get some bigger rubber flaps too.

Half Assed

I got my 4-tone Cadillac horns mounted. I don't have a picture of that though.

pic of the group 48 battery in the tray



Radiator bushings were shot, so I band-aided them with roofing urethane.



I'm also working on a gun rack for an AR15. I have the rack built using a police surplus electronic lock, but I haven't welded the bracket to the trunk yet.

Half Assed

Rack welded to the trunk.

Just waiting on a release timer that I bought on egay to show up so I can wire the switch up for it.



I ordered polyurethane control arm bushings because the front end is knocking pretty bad. Hopefully the bolts for the arms aren't too rusty and will come off without too much trouble, but I doubt I will be that lucky...

I also have an appointment with the tint shop next week.

Half Assed

Put the ES control arm bushings in on the passenger side. It went much smoother than I was expecting. The ball joint and the 22mm bolts came out pretty easy. I drove it around the block and didn't hear any cluncking, so hopefully that's fixed.

I think I'm going to replace the sway bar bushings and the end links too, since they are toast also.

Half Assed

Got an OE mudflap for the rear right from the junkyard and mounted them along with the rubber ones on the back.

Had the windows tinted 30% up front and 15% on the back.




new sway bar bushings and endlinks


The CEL is stuck on with the missing after-cat O2 sensor, so I checked the codes to see if anything else was on...




p0141 is from the missing rear O2 sensor

p0505- IAC valve malfunction
p0440-evap system not working properly
p1448-evap purge valve

The idle is high, 1200 rpm, which explains the p0505. I adjusted the screws on the throttle body and now it's buzzing at 600. The light will probably come back on though if the IAC is no good. I'll have to check the FSM this week and test it with the multimeter.

I removed the evap vent valve and sprayed it with PB Blaster to loosen it up. Maybe this time it'll start working again. I didn't have such luck last year on a 5th gen that I ended up putting a new valve on.

Half Assed

Put some yellow ebay tint on the fog lights.







Grabbed a set of leather seats from the junkyard with the door panel inserts for $150. Going back tomorrow to turn in the old ones to get $20 back.

The driver's seat has some rips and 200k worth of wear on it, but it's still in pretty good shape for it's age. Now the passenger seat has power too.

I didn't put in the panel inserts yet, too lazy to take the door panels off right now. Maybe if I get bored someday or have the panels off for something else I will put them in...

Half Assed

The p0505, p0440, and p1448 codes from the iacv and evap purge solenoid didn't come back so it was time to get rid of the p0141 downstream O2 sensor.

I bought a dorman spark plug non fouler #42009 to trick the new $15 bosch oxygen sensor into thinking there was a working catalytic converter on the car.

But I jacked up the car on the wrong side and the cord for the welder wasn't long enough to reach the other side so instead of moving everything I just welded it on and suspended the wire over. lol

I drove the car across town to a gas station and the light didn't come on, so maybe it'll work.




Right now it's getting a consistent 20mpg mostly city mileage. Perfectly acceptable to me for what I have into it and it rides way better than my friend's brand new honda civic.

Half Assed

CEl is still off.



I clutch line has been leaking for a while, so I order a stainless steel hose. The pedal feels great now.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

brakes?? shine up and clay?? tires?

Half Assed

What about 'em?



I did get a shift **** from a z31 300zx in the junkyard a few weeks ago that I like much better than the original. But I recently got a **** from a chevy 5spd truck that I'll might modify to use in it instead. The z31 300zx **** threaded right on.